Dried fruit and process of drying the same.



H. H. HARRISON. I DRIED FRUIT AND PROCESS OF DRYING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.25, 1.912. 1,062,969.

Patented May 27, 1913.

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HENRY- H, ARRISON," or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

DRIED FRUIT AND PROCESS OF DIPYING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1913.

Application filed October 25, 1912. Serial No. 727,731.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY H. HARRISON, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of Boston, countyof Suifolk, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Dried Fruit and Processes for Drying the Same,.of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts. I

My invention relates to the drying of fruit, and particularly to the drying of the cranberry.

Many attempts have been made to dry the cranberry for the purpose of preserving the same but, so far as I am aware, all such attempts prior to my invention have resulted in failure, due to the exceedingly tough and impervious skin which effectually resists the escape of moisture from within the berry and which comprises a very large percentage of the composition of the berry. The berry cannot be dried, of course, unless some escape is provided for this moisture. Failing in attempts to dry the berry as such, considerable success has been had by cutting the berry into parts, thereby to expose the interior thereof to the drying action and for the escape of the contained moisture. But

' such a process is at best unsatisfactory because it destroys the integrity of the berry,

thereby rendering it when subsequently cooked substantially unlike the cooked entire berry, and also because the segregation of the berry into a plurality of parts gives to the product a taste that is substantially unlike that accompanying the use of the en- 'tire berry, because of the abnormal exposure of the interior portions of the berry.

In my efforts to devise'some means for drying the entire berry I have found that if the tough and impervious skin-be suitably vented, as for instance by puncturing it or slitting it at various points, escape is there by provided for the contained water or moisture, making it possible to dry the berry while still preserving the general and substantial integrity of the same,-with the result that when the dried berry is subsequently treated with water or moisture it will reiixpand to assume substantially its original shape and condition and may be then cooked or treated and served as when.

first grown and before the drying.

My invention, then, comprehends not only a new process by which to dry the cranberry or any other fruit to which the proc ess may be adapted, but a new product as well, which is susceptible of storage and sale like any .of the-dried fruits, it being capable of preservation for indefinite periods. I

- In. the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated the various steps involved in,

carrying out one application of my invention, it being understood that my invention is not restricted either to the article-of food or to the specific treatment thereof illustratecl.

Referrin to the drawing, Figure 1 upon an enlarge scale illustrates a cranberry vented in one manner contemplated by my invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section of the berry taken on the dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 illustrates the berry in ,its dried condition; Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the dried berry taken on the dotted line -'l4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form of venting; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the dotted line 6-6 of Fig, 5.

In the illustrated use of my invention represented in Figs. lto 4 inclusive of the drawing, the entire or whole berry is vented preferably at a plurality of points.

marked 7 whereby escape is provided for the contained water or moisture. This venting may be accomplished in any desired manner, I- having obtained the best results by subjecting the berry to the action of numerous pll(3( points whlch produce a num-' puncturing points or projections may be of a. length merely sullicient to penetrate the skin or shell at. one side of the berry with-'- out reaching therethrough' to the opposite side, but I have found 1t convenient and advantageous to make these prick points of a .length such that they penetrate for substantial distances into the interiors of the berries, and if desired they may,,of course, be such as to extend completely through and- \l hile puncturing in the manner last mentioned has certainpoints of advantage, it may be diflicult to remove the impaled berries from the puncturing points, and I have found substantial results to be obtained, with greater facility in handling the berries, by employing puncturing points of a length that reach substantially through the interiors of the berries to, but not through the opposite skin faces thereof, and when so used the puncturing points tend to disturb, loosen, open up and prick down the contained contents of the skin to better enable such contents to give up the moisture in drying.

The vented berries may be readily dried in any convenient manner either naturally or artificially, the vents in the skin providing suflicient escape for the contained moisture. \Vhen dried, the berry appears much as represented in Fig. 3 of the drawing, with the integrity of the skin preserved sub; stantially throughout, but in a considerably shriveled and contracted condition. l/Vhen so dried, the berry may be kept indefinitely and may be sold like any dried fruit.

For use, the dried berries are placed in or brought in contact with the required m0isture conveniently in the form of a body of water in which theymay be immersed, whereupon the berry re-absorbs or takes up moisturwhich it had previously given up and expands substantially to its original form.

\Vhen the vent openings are formed by puncturing the shell from without, the edges of the vent openings are deflected inward in a way that causes the openings to close more or less against expansive action from within, with the result that when the berry is subjected to the action of the moisture for reexpansion the vent openings might be said to close like valves and to permit the inflation or expansion of the berry to or, toward its original shape or form. WVhether punctured from withoutor within, the

nature of the article itself is such that when subjected to the action of the moisture for reexpansion the vent openings tend naturally to close and to preserve the'essential characteristics of the contained substance of the berries. I

The dried berry resulting from my invention when again used may scarcely be distinguished from the original berry previous to drying and much more nearly reselnbles the original berry than is possible of the berry by slitting its shell or skin, the

slits being of any desired length and arrangement; or the venting may be otherwise accomplished according to the taste or ingenuity of the handler thereof so long as the substantial integrity or entirety of the berry is maintained.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of food, a dried, entire cranberry having .a vented skin.

2. As a new article of food, a dried, en-' tire cranberry having a multiplicity of vents distributed in its skin.

3. As a new article of food, a dried, entire fruit having its interior vented through to the outside and disturbed to facilitate the escape of fluid therefrom.

4. The process for drying fruit which comprises venting the interior of the fruitthrough the outside thereof while retaining the integrity of the fruit and thereafter subjecting the vented fruit to the action of a drying agent.

5. The process for drying fruit which comprises puncturing the enveloping skin or shell thereof from the exterior to produce one or more vents for the interior of the fruit and thereafter subjecting the vented fruit to the action of a drying agent.

6. The process for drying a cranberry which comprises puncturing the enveloping skin or shall thereof from the exterior to the interior of the cranberry to produce one or more vents for the interior thereof, and thereafter subjecting the vented cranberry to the action of a drying agent.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY H. HARRISON. 

